A Book Gift Basketis a Small Piece of Heaven

It's a chance to get away from it all and sail away to magical kingdoms.

What should a great book gift basket include? Here are some ideas to get that dream boat rolling...

Book Gift Basket Ingridients:

Container - a basket.

Book holder - reading a book in bed is one of life's simple pleasures apart from the annoying "holding the pages in place" bit. That's what book holders were invented for. There are small clip like ones, larger ones that fit at the top or bottom of your book and even bean-bag like ones to adjust to any surface.

Bookmark - no book gift basket is completed without one! a useful feature for any book reader. Bookmarks come in various forms, from simple cardboard ones to golden platted, from monochromatic to colorful 3D patterned. Choose one to match your recipient or even make one yourself.

Book light - there are some great inexpensive clip-on book lights that clip onto the book and provide light for the reader without disturbing anyone else around. Go for LED lights if possible because they don't heat up and therefore are much more user friendly.

"Book owner" stamp/stickers - book lovers often share their books by lending them to others. However sometimes they find it hard to identify and trace their books. A stamp saying "this book belongs to..." or even homemade "this is ...'s book" stickers , can help marking a book lover's treasure.

Magnifying glass - for older book lovers (my mom suggested I add this item..). Great options are a magnifying glass with built in light, a square one that is placed on the book itself or the kind that hangs from the neck with a strap (this way the reader can remain hands free when reading).

Book - the most essential ingredient in a book gift basket!. It can be a book you love and want to share with the recipient , a recommended book you've heard of, a book featured on an off/online recommendation list (see "list of recommended books" item below), a book to match the recipient's personality or any other book of your choice. You can buy a hard copy book or try one of the alternatives:

eBook - some book lovers read their books on tablets such as Ipad, Kindle etc. If your recipient is one of them, you can get him/her an eBook or even download eBook classics free of charge from the web. Check out Project Gutenberg for many free eBook masterpieces. Download your selected book and copy it onto a disk-on-key or CD.

Audio book - if your book lover spends a lot of time commuting, an audio book is a great way to pass the time. You can buy audio books at book stores or even download classic audio books for free (For example: check out LibiVox for free audio books which are recorded by volunteer readers).

Book gift card - not sure which book is the right choice? get a book gift card instead. You can even buy a book e-gift card online without leaving the comfort of your home (try Barnes & Noble's website or other big online book stores). An e-gift card is mailed by the store to the recipient and can be used online. If you go for an e-gift card, print it and include it in your gift basket.

List of recommended books - a nice addition to a book gift basket for future reading or as a starting point for (e)gift card purchases. If you are a keen book reader yourself, you can create and print out your own list of recommended books along with short descriptions and a personal touch. Otherwise check out online book recommendations such as TIME magazine's all time 100 novels or Amazon's best books of the month.

Comforter - nothing like snuggling up in a warm comforter on a cold day/night reading a breath taking book.

Coffee mug + cookies - to get the scene just right while snuggled up in the above mentioned comforter.